She couldn’t quite place why this notion for further closure presently existed in her mind, but it was preventing her from a sound sleep.

The story had served its purpose, her mom was left feeling content and engaged by her account of how the play at school had went for her and her siblings. It wasn’t the real account by any means, they had to exaggerate because their father’s camera had died out on them, but it was a satisfying yarn that had pleased her.

So why couldn’t she let it go?

Was there a detail she missed out?

She figured she had covered all the nitpicking basics covered. When she described how Millie fell off of the upper floor of the bar in an elastic string shoot-out, she made sure her mother knew she had been training for weeks for the stunt.

She was the most experienced at the creative nuances of play production. She knew how to craft a cohesive story, so what wasn’t so straight about it?

Part of her thought it might have something to do with how she thought less of Millie, often her regular nemesis, in this scenario. Here she was in actuality a lackey to Chloe Barbash.

And then it hit her.

Of course it would be Chloe.

And of course it would be related to the one other thing she had left behind when she closed the story out.

The one detail she had left unfinished.

The Sheriff.

Rudy.

In this reality, he was something much more simple to her. He was her son. The son she was barely there for, but would at the most urgent of emergencies, come to the aid of no matter the distance between them in terms of miles, lifestyle or ideology. Priorities were so much more tempered when you are protective of your own. There was no room for emotional compromise.

That is, until she herself was compromised.

She had let the story get away from her, but she relished it. She relished letting in that reality, to let loose, take a risk, take a stray elastic sting, and pass on, leaving what she left behind with strong words to live by, instructing him to take in as much air and life around him than anyone who treaded through life with such soft steps and much shorter breaths.

In this realm, her motherly instincts kicked in.

The deep lore she had established for herself…an outlaw who had rarely ever been there for her child due to the most dubious and troublesome business leading her astray and incarcerating her, was ushering in a desire for redemption.

In the land of the living, she had been inconsistent, as a spirit fit for the sky, she could look upon what kind of man she left behind.

So in order to sleep peacefully, she would spend her entire evening’s worth of dreams attempting that.

She envisioned the slick, crisp sunset hovered high above the backwater town, bringing a day glow sensation to those who dwelled in it.

The Sheriff took in this sensation while keeping a sharp eye trained on the funeral procession for his mother. He took out the mini-bellows that passed for his inhaler and took in a breath, he walked past the coffin, tenderly stroking the side of the brazen brown casket with his fingers.

He tapped a little diddy on the side, the first few notes of a song Louise pretended to have sang to him when he was little.

He took his leave of the procession and entered a tailor’s shop. He made a request.

Knitted spurs.

Louise could feel the other realm’s version of herself smiling warmly at him making specific mention of this, and she ascended to the highest point in heaven knowing he would not let his memory fade as long as his footprints remain engrained in the Earth.

She had that much faith in him.

Same applied to the version of him that awaited her in the real world. Where the truth was more complex for her, where the priorities were all over the place due to age, hormones, and vitality. Notions of love and compassion that overwhelmed her to such a degree she had to mask it in her day to day routine.

“Yeah, the idea is we list the name of the street we’re on, take a picture of the road in the town, post it online and then the customers who view it on their apps and whatnot can pinpoint where it is.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to write the name of the business on the sign? By just having it read ‘here’, you’re not giving it much information

“And if anything, the fact the rival restaurant is right behind him will probably make everyone think he’s advertising THAT” Louise pointed out

“Linda, they’re honking at me” cried out Bob, “I also think one of them’s contemplating stepping out of his car, yep, he’s rolling up his sleeves. The sleeves are rolled. ”

“I think you should give Dad the all clear Mom”

Louise suddenly felt someone tug at her skirt, she peered around and found pocket-size Rudy from school commanding her attention

“Oh gee, that’s sweet of him…this is for saving him from those loons who loomed over him at lunch right? ” Tina asked.

“Yeah, thanks short stuff, it was my honour” Louise said, rubbing her hand across Rudy’s hair and scruffiying it up a tad.

“Aw, my little angel’s looking out for all her little cupcakes that begin with the same name”

“Don’t read into it Mom” Louise said, trying to cover her tracks. Linda gave her a knowledgeable stare, respecting her daughter’s desire to keep her true feelings for a Rudy of the regular kind private.

“Linda, for god’s sake, just write the address on the sign next time” Bob said

“Ok Bob, come away from the traffic, the kids have gotten me to change my mind”

Bob walked back, apologizing profusely to the drivers. It had been, however, too late to appease one of them, who had levelled his face with a mean right hook.

“We’re really going to have to hold family meetings if we’re going to plan big boosts for business” Bob said. Linda walked over to him and nursed his black eye.

As Louise received the hot tag from Ollie as the game of tag intensified, she knew that her role on the playground as of this moment was to be the personification of unparalleled terror.

The other kids knew just how devious she could be at administrating her own take on a tag. It wouldn’t just come up with a light prodding of her finger upon a part of the body. Oh no.

It would come with a tackle, a trust, a harsh cold slap across the cheek. It would be physical, it would be painful.

She was usually not in the business of dealing with the pleasantries of playtime. Louise Belcher was all about injecting a dose of chaos into the more tranquil activities during school hours.

After all, to her School was very trying. Why should anyone work off their stress when said stress would just start mounting up again as soon as they re-entered the classroom?

The kids scattered in all directions, except Andy and Ollie, who desired Louise to tag them so they could selfishly keep the game all to themselves, tagging one another until eternity caved in. Louise ignored them and pursued others on the playground.

Ultimately, though she stopped in her track.

Every world she paid attention to, the ones centred on the game, the playground, and the stress all caved in as she saw a solemn figure on one of the swings nearby, nimbly swaying back and forth and humming a faint little melody to himself.

Louise could faintly make it out. It was The Right Stuff from New Kids On The Block.

She only knew about that from the kind of music listened to by the father of her best friend.

She walked over to the boy on the swings, perched herself on the swing next to him and nudged him on the shoulder

“Hey buddy, what’s got you down?” she asked Rudy.

“Oh hey Louise, I was just thinking about life…and life, life again, ’till I’m kind of full of it”

“C’mon, life’s always kicking you in your perfect teeth, do me a favour and bite it right back” Louise replied.

“Oh I will…someone has to. I just wish it had been my third cousin”

“What happened with him?” Louise asked.

“He died this morning.”

Louise shuddered as a chill coursed through her veins.

“Major apologies man, death’s a kicker”

“Guess I’ll be using your poem for the funeral” Rudy replied, referring to the one she had written for their class project

“Hey, no, that’s morbid, you’re the guy that brings spoons to a gunfight, ready to make breakfast out of things that are hard to swallow, you can write something much better than that” Louise replied.

“Maybe I could talk a little about the disease he was fighting, how it made him a little desperate to die, but that he wanted everyone to go on living. He thought so selflessly…makes you wish we were all like that”

“Hey, living takes effort, especially with the low-lives you wind up having to put up with”

“Yeah, we’ve all had our fair share” Rudy spoke in agreement.

“Hey Belcher, get back in the game” snapped one obese kid on the playground as the two remained seated at the swings.

“Your tag is gonna come hard and heavy lardo” Louise retorted. Rudy laughed, then gasped for breath, Louise quickly rummaged through his pockets and gave him his inhaler.

“Thanks” he said, “You always bring me back from the brink of death”

“Hey, it’s me, the girl who breathed life into you on valentine’s day, you can always trust me to keep you going” Louise replied.

“I was thinking…if I ever got the same disease my cousin had, at any point, I’d like you to make the call on whether I should live or not.”

Louise tried to keep herself composed, she wasn’t the best at dealing with raw emotional dilemmas

“Yeah, but it’d mean letting you off life’s leash, I’d sooner reserve that for jerk offs like Logan”

“You said you’d end me, I’m holding you to that”

“That was only if you ever told anyone I kissed you” Louise whispered, not wanting anyone to hear her.

“Belcher, come on” cried out another kid as everyone scattered across the playground became restless with their impatience.

“Maybe it’s best you go play, don’t worry about me”

“I like worrying about you buddy…besides, you’re it”

Rudy suddenly remembered that when Louise had nudged him earlier, she was still playing the game, even though she had brought no terror to his doorstep.

He smiled, and nudged her back.

“You’ve still got it” he said, and darted off.

“Ah, so you DO want me to end you. Tell you what Rudy…in this situation, I can arrange all manner of methods I can satisfy your demand”

“Come and kill me” said Rudy.

Elated to be free of a moral dilemma that was best left to their adult days, Louise shot like a bullet towards Rudy as he darted around the other kids, who likewise took off, thinking Louise would eventually target them.

Louise had other plans, she knew Rudy would take her one step beyond her usual spots, he would let her pursue him across all other layers of the school he was accustomed to visiting, and she hoped that when he ran out of breath, they would be in a place so secure she would have the opportunity to once more breathe life into him as their lips came together once more.

“Louise honey, did you finish your poem for school yet?” Linda asked her youngest daughter.

“Not yet Mom” Louise replied.

“Let me know when you have” Linda said.

Louise had struggled all week to come up with something for her school project, the challenge was to write a poem based on the themes of mortality, death and grief, and it had to come from the heart. Conveniently enough, there had been some inspiration for her recently.

“How’s the funeral coming along?” Louise asked of her mother.

“Oh you know how your father is with relatives of a friend, he’ll want to be the designated driver”

“Of the hearse I hope”

“Don’t be silly dear, his pals will all be encouraged to give their dearly departed a spiked salute, once that’s done they’ll be in no state to drive, so your father will be taking them all home”

“Ah he ought to give them all a hellfire ride downtown, put them all in a death-defying mood”

“Oh honey, breaking the law afterwards isn’t going to take anything off the mind of your father before he arrives there”

“Why not?”

“He thinks he’s obligated to give some sort of a speech…it’s funny because he really didn’t know too well, either that or too much time has passed and his memories of spending time with him have lapsed”

“A real trip down amnesia lane huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a shame, there’s so many things that you think you’ll treasure forever, but the passage of time really leaves you out of touch sometimes”

Louise resumed work on her poem. Eventually, she printed it out and showed it to her mother, who approved of it in the obligatory prideful manner that most moms would, and sent Louise off on her way to school.

As she walked down the street, she carefully read the poem aloud to herself

“Death is a stinkhold

I tell you no lies

Once it’s applied

You’ll do nothing but cry”

Louise thought long and hard about what brought her to convey such thoughts to paper, a frightful situation experienced by the brave soul that was her brother Gene, stepping in to take the feared move on behalf of his terrified sister at the hands of her nemesis Logan, one of few men she had ever shed a tear in front of.

A humiliating moment that had brought a disquiet to her feisty soul.

As she mulled over her poem, she suddenly bumped into someone walking up towards her. Just as she was about to fall backwards and hit the concrete, this person reached out and grabbed her by the arm, propelling her forward and preventing her from collapsing.

Louise stared up at her rescuer. Regular Sized Rudy, his face still bearing a red hot handprint, Louise’s handprint, from their fateful valentine’s day encounter.

“Hey slugger, thanks for keeping me off the concrete” she said

“You going to shake my hand with that one, or shatter my face with it this time?” Rudy asked, pointing to her hand that he had clasped in his own.

Louise smiled, and swiftly shook it.

“You got your poem ready for school?” he asked.

“Sure do, come on, let’s exchange” Louise suggested.

The two did so, Rudy reading Louise’s out first.

“That’s a killer” he said

“Well it fits the theme don’t it?” said Louise, swiftly turning her attention to Rudy’s poem

It’s a very different sort of dark

When we deal with the loss of light

The moments we reflect most fondly on

Are our courage in the fight

As time takes eternal steps ahead

And as we move as one with it

We pray our kindest days before

Provide us with due credit

We reflect, we rise, we raise a toast

As winter turns to spring

A little early to call on the sun

But these times demand we sing

We close our eyes, we let our day slip

We know this procedure all too well

What we take from it is a moment

Where we realize there’s still much more to tell

The stories, the legends, the place souls lost to us hold

Our minds, our hearts, our spirits soar

As love decays grief’s pure cold

Louise was taken aback. The poem was elegant, beautifully composed, and above all else, hopeful.

“Do you mind if I use your poem?”

“For class? Sure I guess, least I can do for that kiss you gave me” said Rudy.

“No, not for class, my Dad needs some A-material to read at a funeral”

“Sure, if you think it’ll bring some life to that kind of party”

Louise gave Rudy’s face a tender stroke with the hand she had used to slap him

“When it comes to planting a note of dignity on death little buddy, you’re what I’d call the living end”

The other side of Rudy’s face began to beam as red as his other side as another kiss graced his lips and the merciless hand of Louise thrust itself upon his features.

“I want a crack at that whip” Louise remarked as Tina continued to thrust her right arm in a forward motion towards one of the restraint tables, with her brother Gene continuously making whiplash noises.

Their parents, Bob and Linda, walked in, caught sight of what they were doing, and were left bamboozled.

“Tina honey, what are you doing?” Bob asked.

“Just putting in an imaginary shade of grey” Tina said.

Bob instantly understood the reference and became ever so slightly miffed, he turned to Linda.

“Lyn, I told you not to leave that book lying around” he pointed out.

A small breeze briefly touched the back of his neck. He turned around, only to find nothing there. He didn’t give the sensation any further thought

“I already grounded Louise for reading it” Linda said in her defence.

“Yeah, but you know how exotic Tina gets also” Bob replied.

“Oh yeah, the butts thing…there’s a lot of that in there. Silly me” said Linda, realising the error of her ways.

“I want a crack at the whip next” said Gene.

“No dice, I promised our client I’d keep him male” said Tina.

“What kind of girl doesn’t want to make a man out of me?” asked Gene.

“Tina, let your brother fantasise about a woman in that position” said Linda

“Don’t encourage this behaviour Lyn” Bob said.

“Oh where is my head today…I know where it is, it needs to be where the dishes are, come on Bob you can help out”

“Lyn, you’re avoiding the subject, you think they’re going to cut this out? It’s a project to them, they’re going to COMMIT”

“Just let them whip it out of their system, nobody’s getting hurt”

“My client is, and he enjoys it.” Tina replied.

“That’s nice dear; good customer feedback is what we like to hear in real life too”

“Is this real life, or is this fantasy?” Bob joked.

“Dishes Bob” said Linda.

As Bob took in the greasy plates left on the far right of the bar, he noticed a young puckish boy staring intently upwards outside.

“Rudy?” said Bob, and wandered towards the front door to see what was going on.

“Hey, Mr. Belcher” said Rudy.

“Rudy, why are you staring up at Louise’s window?” Bob asked

“I’m thinking of a way to climb up”

“Seriously, like in ‘Clarissa Explains it All?'” Bob asked.

“Bobby, the dishes” said Linda.

“In a minute Lyn” said Bob.

“What’s ‘Clarissa Explains It All?'” asked Rudy

“Don’t you watch late night Nick?” asked Bob.

“Louise is always telling me I’d never last past midnight” said Rudy.

“Why do you want to climb up to Louise’s window?”

“I heard she was grounded, we were supposed to play some games at my place, thought I’d come to her instead”

“Why not just invite yourself in? You’ve been in our home upstairs before”

“Here, chuck one of these at it, this used to work for me all the time when I wanted to hang out with my friends” Bob replied.

Rudy tossed one as far as he could, but it barely reached the intended target, falling back down at the half-way mark.

“Put a little more energy into it Rudy, like this” Bob said, hurtling his own stone.

A thunderous thud and an alarmingly harsh crack could be heard.

“Oh swell move there buddy” came a voice from behind them. Bob and Rudy turned around, and were greeted by Louise, holding a bag of sweets in her hand.

“It was your Dad” Rudy said.

“Yeah, but you encouraged the madness”

“Louise, what are you doing out here? You’re grounded” said Bob.

“Yeah, I snuck out while Tina was putting on her shady show” Louise revealed.

Bob suddenly realised where the chill that pierced the back of his neck came from earlier. While he and Linda watched Tina’s imaginary sex show, Louise had managed to creep past them and quickly slip through the door. The weather was particularly breezy so it caused a draft.

“Tina got that idea from you didn’t she?”

“You and Mom were too busy today to nip out to the store to get us our Wednesday intake of sugary goodness, so I stepped in using my knowledge of the ‘grey area’ to give Tina and Gene something to do to hold your attention”

“Yeah, well I’m going to have to confiscate those and ground all three of you for pulling that stunt” said Bob

“Yeah, and if you do, I’ll tell Mom you broke my window” said Louise.

“Oh you play this game way too well” said Bob, deflated and defeated.

“Tina’s putting on something shady? A slim chance I could see it?” said Rudy.

“Not for your innocent eyes little buddy” said Louise, grabbing his hand and pouring some sweets into it.

“Thanks” he said.

“I heard the whole thing by the way…you wanted me to hand you a rope? You abuse yourself way too much as it is” she joked.

“Or maybe the ‘Tangled’ thing” Bob asked.

“Hey, I value my hair just the same as the hat on my head” said Louise.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to pull it so hard it’d tear off”

“Make me an instantaneous skinhead? Worth it” Louise replied.

“OK, OK, I’ll sneak you back in Louise, but you’re still paying a small price. Rudy, go home, you can see her at school tomorrow”

“Yes sir. Thanks for the sweets Louise”

“Thanks for being sweet enough to come ’round buddy” Louise replied, nudging him on the shoulder.

As he left, Bob instructed Louise to stick closely to his back as he walked back into the restaurant, where Tina was going into overdrive on her ‘client’

The trek home was proving to be a daunting task for Tina and Gene as they tried to keep their youngest sibling in check.

Twice she had attempted to storm back over to where she had lost her ears and scream raw and rudely at the heavens, begging whatever God might exist to bring the upstart bully Logan back to the spot and surrender his prize back to her.

She felt like the heavens were falling.

As they walked up the road, Louise kept her hands firmly pressed down on her head; covering her exposed hair and trying not to look any familiar street dweller with direct eye contact in case they recognized her and became curious as to why she had suddenly parted ways with her ears.

The walk back to her father’s business, and their home, was paved with excruciating detours as she cut in and out of alleyways and behind dumpsters to avoid the other kids coming home from school, especially the ones with the sort of mouths that would let loose all kinds of gossip if they caught sight of her.

“Gene’s got a point Louise, trying to avert attention is only going to draw people to you” said Tina in agreement.

“If they want to talk shop, I’ll be sure to talk smack when I know who they are” Louise snapped back, “Until then, leave me be, I’ve got a rescue mission to strategize”

“You can’t be comfortable in a position like that, why don’t you sit down and meditate a bit over what you’re going to do” advised Tina.

Louise lifted all but three fingers off her hair before anxiously pinning them back down to her head again. Her anxiety levels were so high she couldn’t contemplate life without something above her ears.

A piece of her was missing. Without it, she couldn’t sooth her soul.

She took in deep breaths, but this only resulted in her holding in her breath in hopes she could pass out rather than live with this kind of pain any longer. Gene and Tina had to help her to her feet several times as she staggered and swayed from side to side, almost spilling over into the road and into the midst of traffic.

“Ok, we’re taking the bus the rest of the way, you sit here and we’ll check for the times they’re usually due” said Tina, resting Louise on a seat.

“Just leave me to drift out with the rest of the tide” said Louise, refusing even to spread her arms over the seat.

As she looked up at the clouds, her wild imagination was strangely passive, as abstract imagery formed in her mind’s eye.

Clouds that would, to her, normally take the shape of a fist hitting a face or pulling the hair out of a wild ogre in Logan’s likeness were instead replaced with tiny pin drops and whirlpools. All this accompanied by strange music.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted the source. It was Rudy, his headphones plugged into his ears, with concert hall music playing at full blast.

Louise was slightly annoyed at the sound levels, but she couldn’t pry a hand off her hair to tap him on the shoulder and plead him to cut out the commotion.

Rudy suddenly glimpsed her next to him, and could read from her face she was troubled.

“Louise, hey, I’m sorry if I was disturbing you” said Rudy as he took his earphones off and switched off his walkman.

“Hey, I’m good buddy, don’t worry” said Louise, trying to make it look as if she was more relaxed.

Rudy was concerned, he could read her expressions and tell that she was far from calm.

“You’re missing them though, I’m guessing you didn’t part with them on purpose” he said.

“Promise you won’t go about telling people about this?” said Louise.

“I’d probably be too busy hyperventilating to utter a word” joked Rudy, in relation to his asthma.

“I wish you wouldn’t joke about that dear, it’s more serious than what’s not on my head” cautioned Louise.

“Hey, laugh in the face of fear is my motto” said Rudy.

“You saying I’m scared now?” joked Louise.

“You sound short of breath” said Rudy

“Yeah, well my recent experience today took the wind out of my sails. Once I calm down, I should be alright. I just can’t get over what happened” Louise confessed.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll find a way to resolve it in your own time, here, let me make time for you now, let me make it a bit better” Rudy said, and placed his hands behind Louise’s head, lifting it ever so slightly and forming two bunny ears with his middle fingers

“Ok, spread those wings” he said.

Louise smiled, and slowly raised her two arms off her head, she relaxed and looked back at the clouds.

“The music you were playing…that was what they call ‘absolute music’ wasn’t it?” she said

“Yeah, it’s some boring arrangement for our music class, I’d rather listen to trash metal” said Rudy.

“No, no, it’s good, it’s always good to have nothing normal going on up here, that was just a nicer kind of abnormal” Louise confessed.

“Is that what you need right now? Because you sound like you want to kick ass, not listening to music that sucks ass” said Rudy.

“The hard knocks can wait ’till tomorrow, you mind walking me home so long as you can keep your own little ‘ears’ waggling behind me until we get there?” she asked, placing a hand tenderly on his own.

“Sure thing” said Rudy.

She got up just as Tina and Gene made their way back and before long Louise was walking home clutching Tina and Gene’s hands with Rudy keeping his fingers above her head as promised.

He’d also, at Louise’s request, given her his MP3 player and headphones.

As she walked back home, her family and best friend beside her, she looked upwards again at the clouds and allowed the abstract to make the most of her abnormal day.

All while her angel kept to his word, keeping the sky close to his hands, and preventing the heavens from coming down.

“It was the faint sound of tiny footsteps that set him off that cold day in 2016” Louise said to the huddled group of keen and curious children gathered outside the restaurant.

“He didn’t quite catch it at first, but as the steps grew steadily louder, he found himself drawn closer and closer to the inky grey fog that blocked out all other sights, but never the sounds” she continued, sensing that her story was prickling away at the tender necks of her audience. She closed in for the kill

“Whatever he hears, he sets his sights on seeing, whatever commotion is going on, he intends to give you something to shout about, he…he…”

She set eyes to the right of her, waiting for something to come into gaze. Shortly enough, she got what she wanted. Bang on time.

The individual turned the corner, entered the street, and froze in his tracks as he saw the gathering before him.

He sighed.

“Not again” he whispered.

“…He’s right there, he’s come out of the fog, and he hears everything you’ve been up to” Louise cried out, pointing her finger at the remaining kids.

“Do you know where your parents are? Because they’re wondering just what it is their kids did last summer…YOU know, now so does HE, and no matter what you’ve done, he’s gonna say it’s ok. Don’t trust him; because it’s not gonna be ok. Never. EVER.”

The panicked kids saw this as their moment to depart in a hurry, scattering in a variety of directions, and out of sight of the perplexed police officer.

Bob peered out of the restaurant window to see nobody there except Louise and the cop. He stepped outside.

“Can I help you Officer?” he asked.

“Yes, please sir, could you kindly put a leash on your daughter?” he asked

“Leash jokes now? Oh you’re sick” said Louise.

“What’s this about?” said Bob.

“Yeah, ask and he’ll tell, Rudy sure as hell can’t at the moment” said Louise

“Louise, honey, Rudy’s fine, he was looking for you this morning, where were you?” asked Bob.

“I was down at the pound, I was looking for Chester” she said

“Whatever for?” said Bob.

“To treat him like the dog he is” said Louise.

“Yes, that’s what I was coming over to talk to you about. They figured it might as well be me that came to see your folks after we caught you harassing the animals on the CCTV cameras” said the cop, looking rather flustered as a kid crept up on him and kicked him in the leg before scurrying off.

“ONE animal and boy what an animal, an animal this cretin let back into society after declaring it wasn’t dangerous”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re telling all these haunting stories about the guy is it?” Bob realized, kneeling down and gripping a shaken Louise’s shoulders. “Louise, calm down, he’s just part of the system is all, he was the one releasing it back to his owner, and the people at the pound had declared the dog was safe. Blame them”

“Take on the whole system? Are you nuts, I go after things one piece at the time. Tear down the whole wall and society gets twisted a lot quicker, there’s no control over that, and you know me Dad, I’m a control freak”

“And someone who obviously cares enough for the men she controls in her life to take things too far with people who have jobs to do and need people to trust in them” said Bob, trying to instil some wisdom in his daughter.

“I have things I need to do, can I trust you to keep an eye on your daughter while I patrol the area?” said the cop.

“Sure, sure, just, the next time, try to be around kittens next time”

“The ones in trees?” said the cop sarcastically

“Yeah…well you don’t need to be snarky about it”

“Don’t tell me what my needs are, you need to focus on your daughter’s needs” argued the cop.; Louise stuck her tongue out at him.

“What exactly does my daughter need?” said Bob.

“Discipline for one thing” said the cop.

“Oh I’ve been as patient as I can be with you; you don’t want to see the wrecking ball, no sir”

“It’s true, she knows where one is. Construction sites just a couple of blocks back. She’s been in the seat. Had to pry her from it. She knows how to move it. I was a bit slow” said Bob.

The cop threw his hands in the air and opted to storm off, realizing his words were falling on what he gathered to be deaf or plain ignorant ears.

“Rudy almost died dad” Louise said, a little hint of dread in her voice.

“Minor scratches Louise” Bob reassured her, “He thought it was a pretty exciting moment when the dog went for him”

“Yeah, but he’s an adrenaline junkie, which is going to kill him if he doesn’t realize that soon” said Louise

“Hey, you’ll be there to hold his hand, and his inhaler, if he needs it, you know? You two are glued to the hip; you’ll pull him back from the edge”

“Yeah, but I totally wanna jump off the edge myself sometimes, just don’t want to smash any cupcakes on the way down” Louise said, partially giggling as some assertively positive thoughts got the better of her and sent a ticking sensation to her tummy.

“He can handle it, not everything’s sugar, sometimes there’s a lot of spice, that’s you that is, come on, let’s resume adding actual spice to our way of life” Bob joked, hoisting Louise up on his shoulders and carrying her back into the restaurant to prepare some spicy chicken burgers.